


Hanging Inside The Mansion

by Ateyo-Moonrose (ScavengersFics)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death, Fluff, I will add more tags as this progresses lmao, Lots of Angst, M/M, Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Trauma, unknowing Resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24932377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScavengersFics/pseuds/Ateyo-Moonrose
Summary: Connor struggles to understand why a mansion has suddenly appeared within his mind palace and flashes of images in his mind like he’s reviewing his memory but he knows he’s never experienced these things because… well, he is not human and he was definitely never a child.Hank tries to support his partner as best he can even if he doesn’t understand what’s happening either.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Hanging Inside The Mansion

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've never posted anything this long before lmao. pls, don't hate me if you dislike this. Big shout out to my best friend who helped while writing this, Love you the most. I wouldn't have gotten this far if you hadn't supported me and helped me decide things (even tho we both are indecisive at), but yeah thank you, you absolute legend!

The year is 2040 and It has been over a year of freedom. The revolution was a distant memory for Connor and most other androids. Markus had met with the president and secured android kind equal rights shortly after he sang in front of the camps, with the public’s support things had moved faster than anyone had expected. Even Connor’s life had settled and grown more in this short year than he had ever thought imaginable.

He had ended up moving in with Hank the day they met at Chicken Feed. He still treasures that day, that moment he had been pulled into a tight hug, the warmth of Hank’s body against his own. It was odd, he remembers thinking that he finally felt alive has he tucked his nose against the other man’s neck. 

Life with Hank started off a little rocky. Connor did not really know how to act when he was not at work. He did not know how to relax and unwind, so that had been his first major step in being alive. Hank had laughed at him a few times and other times even got frustrated, but he was supportive none the less. Hank had even lent Connor a few pieces of clothing until they had an opportunity to go shopping, although Connor did steal Hank’s clothes to sleep in or if they were having a night in to watch a movie.

After a couple of months, their relationship took a turn. Connor had realised he was in love with his best friend, partner and roommate. At first, he had panicked, fearing that Hank could never feel the same because he was an android, but he was proven wrong. He had kissed him one night after they had finished a movie, at first hank had not moved, it turned out that he was just surprised. Hank had thought Connor could never love him due to his age and bad habits. It seemed they were both wrong.

They had a few arguments about each other’s feelings and whether it was wrong for them to be together but eventually they settled and decided that it did not matter if they were happy. Which they were. They had also decided to keep their relationship on a down low while at work to keep their co-workers from asking too many questions or making a big deal out of it.

Connor had stayed with the DPD. He had to go through a two-month trial as a beat cop before he was promoted to detective. He had ended up with the same empty desk he had used at the beginning of the deviancy case and stayed as Hank’s partner. Detective Reed was still an asshole, but he didn’t shout at him as often after Captain Fowler had put him on desk work for a week after the last time, he had done it.

Life was going well for Connor. Until…

* * *

Date: Friday, May 11th 2040

The zen garden was as beautiful as it always was. Lush green grass and white marble paths. Tall blossom trees and small bushes decorated in vibrant flowers. The water of the lake was calm and still, only stirring as a fish peaked it face out the blue to enjoy the warmth of the sun. Deep blue vastness hung above with the odd cluster of white clouds. It was peaceful in the garden.

However, as Connor began his usual work of the path, he came across a glimpse of something that did not seem to really belong in such a divine place. Black and grey, rotten wood and dead twisting vines. Blocked up windows and a barricaded front door. Cold marble columns supported the upper floors, each pillar had the same design of spirals. Broken shutters hung from boarded windows, the glass that once kept the cold out were shattered and as Connor approached, he realised the glass had been shattered from the inside as if someone had tried to get through them. The building itself was hidden behind several blossom trees and the branches closet to it seemed to wither away. Yellow, dead grass surrounded the structure and the pathway that lead to the front entrance.

Connor stepped onto the dirt path that weaved towards to rotten home but didn’t get any further before the front door began to bang and a voice yelled out: “HELP ME, PLEA- “

“CONNOR!”

Connor’s body bolted upright, his synthetic lungs heaved, and heart pounded. He turned to see Hank half leaning towards him with his free hand on Connor’s shoulder, staring at him with concern etched onto his handsome features, Connor strongly disliked seeing hank so upset.

“Connor, hey are you alright?” said Hank after a few moments of staring at each other. At first, Connor thought to brush it off but he and Hank had promised to be truthful with each other after they confessed their feelings.

“I-I don’t know… I was in my mind palace like I usually am during stasis but while I was doing my normal cycle of the garden, I noticed something that’s never been there before…” confessed Connor, turning away after a while to stare at his hands which rested on the sheets. “I started to walk towards it and realised it was mansion? It was neglected and the surrounding area was rotten, the grass was all dead and the trees closest were hollow. When I got close enough I saw a path that led up to the doors and as I stepped onto it I heard the doors begin to bang and a voice yelled out… you woke me up before I could hear anything other than them shouting ‘help me’…”

“Sounds, to me, that you had a nightmare,” Hank said after a while of processing Connor’s retelling.

“Hank… you know just as well as I do that androids don’t have a dream unless they enter the program that initiates it. I was running my subroutine while my systems recalibrated… I wasn’t dreaming Hank” stared Connor firmly. He was a hundred percent certain he was not dreaming.

“Do you think you’ve gotten some kind of virus? Is that even possible for androids?”

“While we’ve been talking I ran a self-diagnostic and it’s discovered no foreign programs or data… maybe I should check-in at the closest cyberlife store for a check-up just to be sure?” said Connor, returning his eyes to Hank’s.

“Yeah, we can drop in before work. Come on let's go back to sleep, it’s like three in the morning and id like some sleep before you drag my ass out of bed at 7” Hank said with a gruff laugh, slipping back down into the bed and wrapping his arm around Connor’s waist as he followed him down.

“Yes, that sounds like a good plan, we did go to bed late tonight so you could use the sleep,” Connor said as he tucked himself flush against Hank as a little spoon.

“Yeah. Well we would have been asleep sooner if you hadn’t tried to suck-“

“Goodnight Hank,” Connor said before promptly re-entering stasis for the second time that night.

“fuckin’ androids…” was the last thing Connor heard before was back in the garden.

This time he decided not to investigate the new mysterious addition to his mind.

* * *

Their morning started like most others. Connor woke half an hour before Hank, got dressed and pulled out an outfit for him, which he did more to occupy himself from thoughts of last night. After he was dressed Connor ducked down to give his partner and a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting the bedroom, he was greeted by sumo moments later who came padding out of the living room.

“Good-morning Sumo” Connor kneeled to pat the gentle giant, giving him ear rubs and ruffling the long fur at the back of his head. “come on boy, I’ll let you out” he smiled before he stood back up, leading the dog to the front door and letting him out.

Once they were back inside Connor refilled Sumo’s dish and gave him fresh water. Then he made a start on Hank’s breakfast. He decided to cook him a simple egg and bacon sandwich with a mug of coffee. He pulled out a frying pan and poured some cooking oil into it before placing two slices of bacon into the crackling heat. He flipped them a couple of minutes later and buttered two slices of bread as he waited. When the bacon was done he placed the two slices onto the bread ready for the eggs to follow once they were finished too. After completing the sandwich Connor set off the coffee machine and turned back towards his and Hank’s room.

Hank was still sound asleep. Connor treasured these simple moments when he could look at Hank so at peace. Slowly, he crept over and leaned down, prepping small kisses to Hank’s cheek and saying a muffled “Wake-up, Lieutenant.”

Hank eventually began to stir from the tickling feeling how his partner's lips on his cheek. “mornin’ love” said Hank before turning his head to meet Connor’s lips with his own. Connor pulled back a few moments later and smile sweetly down at Hank. The man returned the smile before sitting up.

“what’d you make this time?” he asked, stretching his muscles as he stood, a joint popped and a groan fell from him.

Connor grinned as he watched him slip into a pair night shorts and a shirt before stating “Just a simple egg and bacon sandwich and coffee should be done by now”.

He followed behind Hank as they exited the bedroom and into the kitchen. Sumo reappeared to greet Hank and chomp into his bowl of food. Hank sat down at the table were his breakfast had been placed and thanked Connor.

“So” Hank started mid-chew “I take it we’re setting off early so you have a check-up to see what that thing was in your head?”

“If it’s more convenient we can wait until after work?” said Connor who was now sat across from Hank sipping at a glass of thirium.

“Nah, you seemed really freaked out by whatever it was. I’d rather we find out sooner than later” replied the other man who was now nursing a cup of coffee.

Connor smiled at Hank, feeling appreciated and loved, “Thank you, Hank. I hope it turns out to be nothing”.

Hank shook his head slightly at the gratitude but grinned, Connor would always thank him over small gestures no matter how often or insignificant the actions are, “Yeah, me too”.

After Hank finished eating, he jumped into the shower and got dressed once he was dry. They petted Sumo and let him out again before leaving the house, driving to the nearest cyberlife store, which was further into the city than Hank’s home was situated.

They chatted about their most recent cases as they drove, laughing at the case they’d closed a couple of days ago that had involved a man who had stolen the two dogs after killing their owner accidentally when he was questioned why he took the dogs he’d simple stated that he didn’t know what to do with them and couldn’t just leave them to suffer. The dogs had ended up being adopted by their owner’s sister, Connor was thankful they ended up with someone familiar instead of the pound.

Eventually, they arrived at the store which now acted as a medical centre for androids, a place were thirium, biocomponents and upgrades could be bought. The stores also offered maintenance and soft-ware check-ups. It wasn’t often Connor came to the store, only dropping in to buy a new stock of thirium and the odd patch up if he’d been damaged at work.

This particular store was smaller than the ones that were in the main parts of the city. The first room of the building showcased shelves of spare parts, thirium, LEDs and clothes. Near the entrance, there were two bins, one for LEDs and the other for old uniforms. There was also to the right a station for LED removal or replacement, which could be used to upgrade current LEDs to have different colours. A desk was at the far back on the left were a young brunette woman wearing a dark green top under light blue denim overalls sat chatting idly with who Connor knew to be the store's owner. He was average height, round and had an impressive braided ginger beard that was speckled silver with age. He wore a warm looking grey a blue jumper and beige cargo pants.

Connor scanned his face, identifying him as Thomas Gates- born 1994, April 2nd, age 46, no criminal record and indeed the owner of the building. Connor then turned and scanned the young brunette. Her name appeared to be Hailey Clifford, age 23 and born July 15th 2017 also no criminal record. She was slim and toned with muscle, her skin was tanned and peppered with freckles. She must be a new worker Connor concluded.

He and Hank eventually caught Thomas’ eye as they came closer and smiled widely at the pair. He and Connor had spoken a few times and had decided he was one of his favourite customers. He waved them over before greeting them.

“Morning gentlemen!” his voice was gruff but warm.

“Good-morning, Thomas. I hope you’ve been well since the last time we spoke?” said Connor with a pleasant smile and a small wave back.

“Aye! I’ve been as well as I can be, whatta bout you eh? I see you’ve brought your man with ya” he snorted out a short laugh and held his hand out for Hank to shake. The two had met once before and it was back before they had progressed their relationship.

Hank took his hand and gave a firm shake, saying a short “hey” and turning his attention to looking around. He didn’t really know what to do with himself when got called Connor’s ‘man’.

Connor shook his head slightly before stating that he was doing fine and that he and hank were on their way to work.

“What can I do you for, do ya need a new stock of thirium?”

“No, no I still have plenty at home and the station. I was wondering if you had time to give me a quick soft-ware scan? Last night when I entered stasis I found something quite odd in my mind palace, Hank thinks it could be a virus but my system didn’t detect anything of the sort. I figured it might best to have a check-up to be sure.” Connor explained, reaching it his pocket mid-speech to palm his coin.

“well, yeah I can take a look at ya. Don’t have any appointments for the next half hour plus this will be good trainin’ for Hailey here” he said jovially, gesturing to the young woman sat behind the desk. “come on back, you can come to…. Urgh it’s Hank right?” Thomas asked, guiding everyone into the back of the building.

“Yeah, Hank, Hank Anderson.” He replied, rubbing the side of his beard awkwardly.

Connor reached over for Hank’s unoccupied hand, trying to offer some reassurance. Hank hadn’t been in the back of the shop before so he didn’t know what to expect. He knew from what Connor had said from his visits before that there are two smaller rooms and one large room. The smaller ones were used for small upgrades scans while the larger one was dedicated to more complicated upgrades or repairs.

They entered through the side door into a wide corridor with benches lined against the right-hand side for waiting guests while the left-hand side had two single doors closest to the entrance. At the top of the hallway, there was a set of double doors which were also of the left. It was safe to say those led to the larger room.

Thomas led the group through the middle door, which held behind it a medium-sized area. The room had no windows and had white walls, blinding bright lights hung from the ceiling. The right and back wall were lined with counters, fitted with a sink and cupboards. On the counter were two boxes, one filled with arms, hands and fingers and the other with legs, feet, and even toes. There was also a stack of manuals, patient files and a popular magazine brand. In the centre of the room was an adjustable blue examination bed. To the right of the bed were a normal wheeled chair and a mobile cabinet with tools on top. In the top left corner, there was a cyberlife assembly frame which was rarely used. In between the frame and counters laid a door that led into the stage area of the building.

“Alright, Connor set your behind on here and I’ll go through and get ma Computer, left the damn thing in the break room. Hailey, introduce yourself and get out the cables I showed you yesterday” Thomas patted the examination table before leaving through the rear door.

“Um... Hi, I’m Hailey. I started here last week. Thomas is my dad, that’s how I got this job… sorry if I’m not the best with all the terms and stuff? It’s all really new to me”

The girl seemed shy and timid, she held her arms close to her body and couldn’t seem to hold eye contact with either Connor or Hank for long. A quick glance at her arms informed Connor that it was likely she was a self-harmer, but by the colour of the scars on her forearms, it appeared she may have stopped over a year ago. The scars themselves crossed over each older and thing lines torn through with larger pinker lumps and dents. Not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable Connor turned his attention into introducing himself and Hank.

“Hello, Hailey, my name is Connor and this is my partner Hank. I wasn’t aware Thomas had any children?” said Connor, after sitting down and removing his tie ready for Thomas to access the port at the base of his neck once he returned.

“Yeah, he- um, he never had anything to actually talk about until last month…” she walked over to one of the counters and pulled three intertwined cables out, before walking over to the mobile cabinet and depositing them on top of it. “My mother doesn’t like me seeing him because she doesn’t like him. I barely got to see him as a kid, so when I starting getting in contact with him at the start of the year… when my mom found out she kicked me out and hasn’t contacted me since… Sorry, that got a little deep I guess”.

For some reason, Connor felt like he understood her pain. Deciding to brush it off Connor placed his hand on hers briefly, “I didn’t mean to pry, a force of habit as a detective I guess? I hope your mother comes to her senses.”

“No, it’s alright. I’ve been needing to talk to someone about it, you know other than my dad-“ The back door reopened and Thomas stepped back into the room, now hold a large black laptop.

Hank snorted “speak of the devil and he may appear.”

“You been talking about me?” He questioned as he set down the laptop next to the cables.

“I was just talking to them about you being my dad, nothing bad” Hailey replied with a hint of a smirk.

Thomas rolled his eyes, grabbing a flat tool from a draw on the cabinet. “Connor, unbutton your top buttons for me, need to get to your primary port.” Connor obliged, undoing his first three buttons. “Right, Connor is it alright if I show Hailey here how to insert these three cables? Or if you’d prefer she can just monitor the screen instead?”

“No, it’s alright. It’s better to learn first-hand, don’t you think?” Connor consented, shivering slightly as Thomas clicked the lock to his neck port. It was an odd sensation to have the port slide open after all this time, it had been well over 6 months since the last time.

“I completely agree, I learned most of the things I know from first-hand experiences.” He waved over his daughter. “Alright, Hailey come on over and watch carefully, this port is highly sensitive. Hank you can take a seat were ever or you can come and watch too if ya want. Might learn something for the bedroom!” Thomas then proceeded to bark out laughter.

Connor internally cringed as Hank stated as he pulled a chair near Connor and sitting down, “Oh trust me, I know all about that wire thing.”

“Okay. Ew stop. I don’t want to know” Hailey squeaked out, slightly flushed.

“Fine, fine. Right, okay, see this…” Thomas started explaining the ins and outs of the port as he attached the cables to his computer and then Connor.

After a few moments and some prodding, the cables were plugged into Connor. They caused his vision to go static for a second before going back to normal. Hank had reached for his hand partway through the process and was currently rubbing his thumb over Connor’s knuckles, which caused his synthetic skin to slowly recede showing white plastic and a subtle blue glow between his joints. It was comforting to have Hank here with him, he decided to ask if he will join him during his next check-up.

“Right, well everything looks fine to me. Scan says you’ve got no foreign programs in your system… hold up that’s new…” Thomas trailed off and started typing quickly into the keyboard.

“What? Is it bad?”

Thomas’ head shot up, shaking it. “Doesn’t seem to be anything harmful. You said something was in your mind palace, yeah?”

Connor nodded, “yes, it was some kind of mansion and the surrounding area was dead and rotten…”

The redhead rubbed his mouth and ran his hand down his beard in thought, “you think you could activate your subroutine so I can take a look?”

Connor nodded, taking Hank’s hand into both of his own and squeezing gently. Hank gave a small squeeze back and offered a smile. He smiled back, closing his eyes and running his subroutine.

The garden was just as he left it, Lush healthy plants and a soft breeze rippled the lake. He was stood in the centrepiece of the garden, in the shade of the white marble tree. Connor turned towards the path that leads towards the shrouded new area. After a hand full of steps the rotten land came into view, still mostly hidden in the tall blossom trees.

“Jesus, no wonder you were freaked out Con. That’s fucking creepy” Connor heard Hank say distantly.

“That must be that code I found… It’s not foreign data because it was built into Connor. The program that runs it has laid dormant since your activation by the looks of it” Thomas explained.

Connor got to the dirt trail that went up to the front of the mansion but didn’t go any further. “Oh shit yeah, Con mentioned he heard a voice yelling from that thing and apparently the doors started to bang once he stepped onto the path?”

“Really? That’s quite unusual… Connor, could you see if that repeats?”

Connor nodded, taking a single step onto the dirt. Sure enough, the banging began but it wasn’t just the doors this time. The shutters that still clung to the window frames started slamming erratically as a strong gust of wind shoved through the air, shaking the trees and grass as it pushed. Another step and the yelling began.

“PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME! I DON’T WANT TO BE IN HERE ALONE! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP!” Each word seemed to encourage the wind and the doors banging became more frantic.

Connor couldn’t take it anymore, stumbling back and away from the building and path. The screaming turned into birdsong slowly, the farther he got.

“Come on out now Connor,” Thomas said, patting his shoulder.

As Connor opened his eyes, he noticed several things. One his eyes were leaking, he was crying. Two the skin around his forearms had morphed slightly, showing faint pink lines before changing back to normal and three, Hank was stood, with both his hands on Connor’s cheeks rubbing gentle circles, his eyes wide and worried.

“Connor, you alright?” he asked bringing his forehead down to Connor’s.

“I-I’m. I’m okay, it’s fine.” He pushed his forehead into Hank’s, bringing his hands up to mirror his.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Thomas spoke, “ Right, Connor, I can take a look into this for ya. I’ll break down the coding best I can and try to find out what the hell that was but I’m certain you didn’t pick this up from someone or something. It was 100% a dormant program. I just don’t understand why it was made to do that or why it’s in your subroutine, to begin with!” he sighed heavily in thought before continuing. “You might have to take this up with Elijah Kamski, he’s an AI genius. If anyone can decipher this it’ll be him.”

Hank groaned loudly.

Connor was well aware of his dislike of the man. He sighed gently rubbing his partner’s hand softly, “if you can’t find anything, I’ll contact Kamski but otherwise I’d rather not have to speak to him again.”

Thomas nodded, turning to Hailey who had been silently watching and listening to everything. “Hailey, you’ve removed these cables before, can you do that while I write down all my contact details for Connor here.” She smiled softly, moving back over to Connor and started to unplug him.

Once Connor was dressed properly again the group left the room and exited back into the main area of the building. Thomas handed hank his contact information in case of an emergency and told the pair to come to visit next time their in the area.

“Hey, Connor?” Hailey had grabbed Connor gently by the elbow as he and Hank were leaving.

The android turned to face her, “hmm?”

“I-I… I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime and talk… about things. Talking to you and Hank earlier about my mom made me feel a little better, I was thinking maybe you talking about what you saw in your urgh-um mind palace would help you feel better…?” she stuttered out.

A smile made its way onto Connor’s face and a warmth filled him, “yeah, we can meet up sometime and talk. You seem like a nice girl Hailey and it would be great to get to know you.” He gave her his number so she could contact him before he and Hank finally got back into their car, driving slowly to work.

“So… what did that Thomas guy mean by you having ‘Dormant Program’?” Hank asked, stopping at a red light.

“It means that I’ve always had the program and coding that’s created the mansion, it just wasn’t active before last night…”

“Well, why the fuck was it there, to begin with, and the even bigger question is what the fuck is it meant to do? Like you said your mind palace is meant for running recalibrations or to meet with that Amanda woman right? So why in the fucking world is there a horrifying old mansion in there with a guy screaming at you when you get close to it?” Hank ranted, shaking his head with frustration.

“I don’t know… but something tells me Thomas isn’t going to find out” that was greeted with a huff. “I know you don’t like Mr Kamski and I don’t blame you but I think he’s the only one who might be able to explain this, Hank” Connor reached into his pocket again, but instead of just hold the coin inside, he brought it out and rolled it over his fingers a few times.

“Yeah, your probably right…” was Hank’s reply as the light turned green. “if you have to meet up with him, we go together. You understand. We go together or not at all.”

Connor placed his coin back in his coat pocket and moved his hand to squeeze his partner’s shoulder, “Okay, Hank.”

“Together.”

* * *

An hour late.

They arrived an hour late to work. It hadn’t occurred to him how much time the check-up had taken. He and Hank hadn’t been late to work over 5 minutes in the past 7 months, Captain is going to have questions.

The pair walked into the bullpen with no one noticing at first, that was until Detective Reed exited the breakroom.

“Well, well, well! Look at that, They’ve finally decided to show up!” Reed shouted walking towards his desk, Tina in tow behind him.

“Fuck off, Reed.” Hank retorted, not wanting to deal with the ass-hat after the morning they’ve had.

“What? Plastic not suck your dick this morning?” replied Gavin, laughing obnoxiously as he sat down at his desk, Tina seating herself on top of the desk.

“Lieutenant Anderson told you to fuck off, I suggest you do as such.” Connor was used to detective reed’s comments and would brush them off with a roll of his eyes, but after recent events, he does not have the energy to listen to his bullshit.

“Wow, guess it was the other way round, must be trouble in paradise eh Tina?” He muttered through a snigger.

“Reed, seriously. Fuck. Off. I am not in the mood to listen to you sprout bullshit today” It shocked half the department who had tuned into the scene. Connor rarely spoke up like this.

Not giving him chance to reply Connor marched over to his desk and began filling in paperwork for the arrest of the dog thief killer. Hank followed suit after muttering some remark to Tina and Gavin.

“Fuckin’ asshole” was all he said as he sat down at his own terminal. They got through a couple of pages of work before Fowler called them both into his office.

“Come on, be quick so we don’t piss him off more.” Heaving a sigh, Hank stood and stretched, “do you want to explain why we’re late or urgh I could if you're not feeling good about talkin’ about it?”

Connor stood, walking over to Hank and seeing the genuine concern in his rich blue eyes. It brought a smile to his face, “No, it’s alright. I can explain it better than you anyway” he said with a small laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t be a smartass.”

The two ascended the steps to the captain office and stepped inside, taking seats across from Fowler. The captain looked unamused and fairly stressed in Connor’s opinion. There was either a spike in cases or he was just extremely annoyed with the duo.

“Where the fuck have you two been? A new case came in this morning and you are needed downtown, I’ve already sent the address over to your terminals.” He rubbed over his eyes and face, huffing. “You’re not falling off the wagon are you Hank?”

Before Hank could even open his mouth Connor started to explain, their morning. “It’s my fault. Last night while I was in stasis… um sleeping, I came across something in my programming that had never been there before. It startled me. The Lieutenant took me to have a check-up this morning, which took longer than expected. My ‘Doctor’ didn’t understand what the program was or why it was there, so I showed him what I had seen in my mind palace. All we know is that I’m not infected with a virus or anything immediately dangerous but that the program has always been there… just not active”

Fowler seemed taken back by how quickly Connor relayed the information. He took a minute to process before asking, “Are you being affected by this program?”

“Well, no not physically. I suppose it’s present in my mind but I won’t let it get in the way of my work, captain.” Connor stated, with a stern face.

The captain looked him over a few times before concluded he was telling the truth. “Next time, call in to let me know you might be late. I’ll let you off with a warning this time. Now you two get down to that crime scene and out my office.”

“Yes Captain”

Connor stood and turned to leave, waiting by the door for Hank follow him out but he had stood and leaned over the desk to whisper something to the captain. It confused Connor, deciding to ask him later in private he waited for them to finish.

Once they were back at their desks, they grabbed went through the information of the new case. It was a double suicide, but one of them had survived. The living victim was called Kai Bates- 28 years old, no criminal record, occupation: bartender. The deceased was named Miles Henry- 30 years old, the only criminal defence was trespassing in restricted areas, occupation: Photographer and part-time decorator. From what they could gather, the two had planned to commit suicide together by hanging themselves, however, the rope snapped when Kai had jumped so he survived. They’d been found in their apartment after a neighbour had called the police, thinking the two were being robbed due to the loud noises.

“Christ…” Hank muttered as he read the case file. “Urm, ready when you are Con” he stood from his chair and pulled on his coat.

Connor copied the action after removing his hand from his terminal, nodding his head as he went. They walked out of the precinct, ignoring Reed’s remarks as they left.

* * *

The apartment building wasn’t too far from the station and the drive there held a comfortable silence. The apartment they were looking for was on the 8th floor and thankfully the elevator was working so they didn’t have to climb the stairs. Once the elevator doors pinged open it didn’t take long to find the place they were looking for.

There in the main hall of the floor was a man. He was sobbing, curled up on the ground with his hands clenched in his hair so tight his knuckle had lost their colour. Two officers were crouched near him trying to get him to stand and to stop tearing his hair out.

As they got closer Connor scanned his face; it was Kai Bates. He had mouse-brown hair and stubble. He was wearing a red shirt, black jeans and a pair of maroon converse with white socks. He also had what appeared to be Miles’ name tattooed on his left forearm and under it the words “you are my soulmate”. It was obvious now why they planned to go out together.

“Ah! Lieutenant, Connor, it’s good to see you” Chris said, standing up from where he’d crouched near Mr Bates. He walked over to meet the pair and started filling them in with what he’d learned, steering them towards the apartment down the hall.

“So, from what we’ve gotten out kai back there, it was definitely a suicide pact. Miles had some kind of terminal sickness and Kai couldn’t bear the idea of being alone again or something among those lines. The two got married 5 years ago and, according to their neighbour, they’d vowed to die together. So this morning they both set up a rope each and hung themselves. Kai’s rope broke off from the ceiling and he knocked himself out when he fell. His neighbour heard the bang and called the station when neither would open the door.”

They stopped just before the door to the apartment, Chris looked them both in the eyes and asked if they were ready. He pushed the door open after they nodded. The apartment itself was neat but lived in, the tea they’d had the night before was still on the kitchen counter. The living room connected to an open kitchen which had an island separating the two rooms. In the living room, there was a larger flatscreen on the wall and low coffee table in front of it which was followed by a dark brown leather couch.

In the centre of the room, there was Miles.

Still hanging.

Connor’s eyes fluttered closed and open a few times as something blurry and distorted played in his mind like a memory. He could see his hands, which couldn’t truly be his hands because they had cuts and grazes on them that were red raw. In his hands he held a rope, tying it into a loop before untying it and throwing it far away from himself.

“Connor! You alright?” Hank waved his hand in front of his eyes bring him back to reality.

“huh? Oh yeah, yeah, I’m fine Lieutenant.” He lied, but he didn’t want to get into whatever the hell that was right now. He'll tell Hank the truth later, right now he had a crime scene to examine.

“I hope you aren’t fibbing, Connor” Hank murmured stepping to the side to let Connor do his reconstruction and analysis.

Connor, just gave him a small smile before his world went grey and gridded. He analysed Miles’ body, concluding that he’d died around about 6:40 this morning. His neck had broken on impact. Behind him slightly to the left lay the chair he’d stood on before jumping, it looked to be one of their dining table seats. On Mile’s right forearm was a tattoo of Kai’s name with the word’s “my one and only love” below it. His left hand bore a smooth gold band, indicating he was indeed married to Mr Bates.

“He died at roughly 6:43 am. His neck broke instantly so he died quickly.”

“Fuck.” Hank walked around Miles’ to look around the room probably searching for some kind of note or message. Several minutes passed before he returned to Connor asking him to scan the victim’s tablet.

A single document was open on the tablet. They’re suicide letter no doubt. Connor began reading it out to Hank.

“Dear Mom. We vowed to leave this world together so we did. I couldn’t imagine my life without Miles so instead of watching him slowly die to this fucking sickness, I went with him. Mom, I want you and dad to know I loved you so much and I’m sorry but I can't live without him, he’s my world and soulmate. Our will says everything about how our stuff will be shared in the family and majority of our savings are gonna go to charity, we couldn’t pick one so if you and dad could that would be great. We both love you all some much and I’m sorry we left you all like this. Kai” Connor didn’t break eye contact with the tablet as he read its contents.

“Christ, Con… that’s, that’s awful…”

“I can see his point of view I suppose…” Connor couldn’t imagine his life without Hank, even before their relationship grew into what it is now. He couldn’t see his life with Hank not there, it didn’t sit right with him.

“Connor, I’m serious.” Hank grabbed Connor by both his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, it was rare to see him look so stern towards him. “Don’t do this is when I die. I don’t want that for you, I want you to keep going and try to move on…” He’d brought his hand to rest against his cheek, caressing him gently with his thumb, “please”.

It was so conflicting for Connor, he wanted to make Hank happy and promise him he would live without him when that time came but at the same time, he wants to be selfish and tell him he couldn’t do that. So he settles for “I promise to try…” leaning his head against Hank’s hand and bring his own hand up to trap his hand. “I love you, Hank”

“I love you too, Con” he leaned down and connected their lips for a soft kiss but pulled away after hearing footsteps, which likely belonged to Chris. “Come on, let’s finish up here get some lunch and just try to relax for the rest of the day, god knows this morning’s been a fucking rollercoaster.”

“Thank you, Hank.” Connor smiled at him before they both went back to examining the apartment.

* * *

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful, for lunch they’d dropped into Chicken Feed which had become android-friendly because of their frequent visits so Connor was able to have a cup of thirium as Hank ate his meal. Once they got back to the station, they were again greeted with Reed’s comments but neither reacted and got straight to work filing paperwork. They went home around 6 pm and ordered a medium cheese pizza for Hank while Connor had a type of thirium slushie, they stuck on a film while they ate with sumo snoring under their feet.

“What were you saying to the captain this morning?” Connor asked twenty minutes into the movie.

Hank put down his slice of pizza, “Just telling him to take it easy on you.” He took a swing of his beer before adding “ That whole thing this morning was awful Con, I told him to let you be because it’s some serious shit.”

Connor at first wanted to reassure him that it was nothing but now that he really thought about, he was scared. Even more now as he remembered the images that had played after seeing Miles’ body. He suddenly felt overwhelmed, his heart stuttered and his eyes began to cloud with tears. He felt sick to the stomach he didn’t have. He took a shuddering breath and almost felt like he was drowning, his throat constricted and he began to cry.

Hank pulled him into a tight embrace, tucking Connor’s head under his chin and rubbed strong hands up and down his back. Connor just ducked further into Hank’s body, trying to hide himself from the world. Each breath Connor took but didn’t need was ragged, hiccupping every now and then as he wept.

“Wh-Whats happening to me, H-Hank? Why do I have that program? Why is this affecting me like this? Why… Why?” he began to babble, not making sense anymore.

“I don’t know, but I’m here for you. We’ll find out what the hell that thing in your mind is… You’re gonna be okay, let it all out…”

“When I saw Mile’s body hanging there, something flashed in my mind. I couldn’t make out much but-but it looked like my hands” he pulled out from the embrace to show Hank his hands, flipping them over to emphasize his point, “ I was tying a rope into a noose and after I finished t-tying it I pulled it apart and threw it away from myself as hard as I could. I couldn’t make out anything but my hands and-and that fucking rope.” Connor ducked back down into Hank’s arms, placing his ear over his heart to listen to it beat, it always helped him calm down hearing pumping of his heart.

“I knew you were lying back at there… You don’t think that’s connected to the fucking thing in your head do you?”

“I think it is” he sniffed up as he began to calm down his crying. “I’ll have to call Thomas tomorrow and tell him what happened, it might help him figure out what the program is… urgh, I don’t want to sleep despite how tired I feel… is that normal?” These days it was rare for Connor to ask questions about having emotions.

Hank nodded, the hand that wasn’t caressing his partner’s back came up to run his fingers through Connor’s hair. It had been odd to do this after the first time Hank had seen Connor without his skin, he’s sat and asked him so many questions about how it worked and if he could feel it when he wrung his hand through his hair. He was thankful that he could feel it.

“We can stay up late if you want, it’s the weekend so we aren’t in tomorrow or the day after, we can stay up for as long as you want Con.”

“Could we watch Nine-Nine? I feel like we need some comedy in our lives after today” he asked as, pulled away from Hank to reposition himself towards the tv but still rest his head over Hank’s heart.

“Yeah, I completely fucking agree with you there Connor!”

So they laid on the couch for most of the night binge-watching the first season on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, assigning everyone from the precinct to the shows characters. Connor ended up as Santiago and Hank as Gina or Jeffords.

When they did finally go to bed, let's just say they didn’t sleep until an hour later.

Connor didn’t run his subroutine that night and opted for trying to dream instead.

**Author's Note:**

> congrats on getting through that pile of crap that is my writing lmao. Pls leave a comment, would be well appreciated.


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